05/29/2025
🎹 🚀 BOOK LAUNCH 🚀 🎹
Join us June 26th at Audreys Books (10702 Jasper Ave, Edmonton) to celebrate the Edmonton launch of Tom Bentley-Fisher's The Boy Who Was Saved By Jazz! Hosted by NeWest's own, esteemed theatre scholar Anne Nothof, this is a must see event featuring discussions of craft, art, and so much more, (including snacks!)
Where: Audreys Books (10702 Jasper Ave)
When: June 26th @ 7pm
Cost: Free
Snacks: Yes!
✨ Featured in 71 Canadian fiction books to read in spring 2025 ✨
Robert lost his father before he’d even been born, and was quickly abandoned by his young mother to be raised by his grandparents in small-town Saskatchewan. In another sense, though, Robert never lost his father, whose ghostly presence lingers in the young boy’s life over the years by means of spectral “advice letters” on how to be a man. When Robert finds an old pump organ in a derelict farmhouse, he discovers a deep love of and talent for performing music. He also begins to discover secrets from his past, including his grandfather’s Communist ties, and the familial cover-up of his father’s sudden death. Along the way, Robert embraces his budding bisexuality, discovers his Métis identity and harnesses the power of his wild imagination. Recalling the work of Jamie Fitzpatrick and Greg Rhyno, The Boy Who Was Saved By Jazz is a coming-of-age story and meditation on belonging.
Tom Bentley-Fisher lives in Alameda, CA. His work has been published in magazines throughout Canada, including Grain, The Dalhousie Review, and NeWest Review. His collection of short stories, Blind Man’s Drum, was a finalist for the Saskatchewan Book Awards, and his short stories, “Wars” and “Rumours of Wars”, were finalists for the National Magazine Award for Humour. His play “Friends” was published by Red Deer Press.
Tom has been the artistic director of five professional theatres in Canada, the US, and Spain, developing and directing over 100 productions. He has gained a strong reputation for developing and producing original Canadian plays, as well as innovative European productions such as an all-female version of The Iliad.
